Alice said:
"The Governing Body is not the sole channel of communication between God and mankind. God's word and guidance by God’s spirit as application to all Christians. The administrative position in Jehovah's Organization is simply to maintain orderliness as is any administrative position in a profit or non-profit organization."
MY COMMENTS:
Alice is saying that the Governing Body is NOT the sole Channel of Communication between God and mankind, and that ALL Christians have the same access to the holy spirit and the Bible. Alice says that the Governing Body is ONLY there to maintain orderliness.
Alice also said:
"Although they were joined by others of the “older men” in such supervision, the administrative position formed a principal part of the expanding Christian congregation, and this body was recognized by the early Christians everywhere as a channel used by God to aid in rendering decisions and directing the affairs of congregations throughout the earth, not as a channel of communication that supersedes the Bible."
"Such help [from the holy spirit] enabled them to recall Jesus’ instructions and teachings, to clarify points of doctrine, and to be progressively guided “into all the truth” revealed through them at that apostolic period. [...] The same thing applies to all Christians, so when certain decisions are reached by the Governing Body the decisions are easy to reflect upon and understand."
MY COMMENTS:
So, Alice is saying that the SAME operation of the holy spirit that the Governing Body receives is available to ALL Christians, and that the Governing Body is NOT a "Channel of Communication which supersedes the Bible."
However, The Watchtower says this:
Watchtower, June 15th, 1957, Page 370:
It is vital that we ... respond to the directions of the “slave” as we would to the voice of God, because it is His provision.
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The Watchtower, December 1st, 1981, Page 27:
Jehovah God has also provided his visible organization, his “faithful and discreet slave,” made up of spirit-anointed ones, to help Christians in all nations to understand and apply properly the Bible in their lives. Unless we are in touch with this channel of communication that God is using, we will not progress along the road to life, no matter how much Bible reading we do.—Compare Acts 8:30-40.
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Watchtower, April 1st, 1962, Page 215:
For one to receive holy spirit he must also be in touch with God’s channel of communication. Just as in the days of Jesus and the apostles receiving of holy spirit was dependent upon contact with God’s channel of communication, his earthly representatives, so also today. The facts show that that channel is found with the New World society of Jehovah’s witnesses.—Acts 19:1-7.
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The Watchtower, October 1st, 1994, Page 8:
CHANNEL TO UNDERSTANDING THE BIBLE
JESUS assured us that after his death and resurrection, he would raise up a “faith-ful and discreet slave” that would serve as his channel of communication. (Matthew 24:45-47) The apostle Paul identified this channel to the Ephesian Christians when he wrote that “there might be made known through the congregation the greatly diversified wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose that he formed in connection with the Christ, Jesus our Lord.” (Ephesians 3:10, 11) It was the congregation of anointed Christians, born at Pentecost 33 C.E., that was entrusted with the “things revealed.” (Deuteronomy 29:29) As a group, anointed Christians serve as the faithful and discreet slave. (Luke 12:42-44) Their appointed assignment from God is to provide spiritual understanding of the “things revealed.”
Even as Bible prophecy pointed forward to the Messiah, it also directs us to the close-knit body of anointed Christian Witnesses that now serve as the faithful and discreet slave. It helps us to understand the Word of God. All who want to understand the Bible should appreciate that the “greatly diversified wisdom of God” can become known only through Jehovah’s channel of communication, the faithful and discreet slave.—John 6:68.
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Watchtower, July 15th, 1958, Page 440:
Do not openly or secretly challenge Jehovah’s channel of communication, as Korah, Dathan and Abiram did, lest the earth swallow you up and you lose your place among those who will live in the new world.
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Watchtower, February 1st, 1958, Page 79:
We must always remember that we learn the truth from Jehovah’s channel of communication, the “faithful and discreet slave” class. (Matt. 24:45-47) We receive of his spirit by our continued association with his channel.
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Watchtower, September 1st, 1991, Pages 18-19:
What of modern times? As foretold at Matthew 24:3, 45-47, the Master, Jesus Christ, has appointed “the faithful and discreet slave,” made up of anointed Christians, to care for all his belongings on earth during this day of his presence. That faithful and discreet slave is represented today by the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses, which has as its publicity agent the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society. Most appropriately, that faithful and discreet slave has also been called God’s channel of communication.
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Watchtower, June 15th, 1987, Pages 19-20:
How have God’s people responded to such progressive enlightenment? All along, there have been a few who could not accept certain adjustments. These were ‘winnowed out.’ (Matthew 3:12) On the other hand, how happy Jehovah’s loyal servants are for such spiritual enlightenment! At a time when Christendom gropes in spiritual darkness, the path of Jehovah’s people grows brighter and brighter. Should we not be determined to stick closely to the channel of communication that Jehovah is using, accepting all such progressive enlightenments as “food at the proper time”?—Matthew 24:45.
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Watchtower, April 1st, 1986, Pages 30-31:
Why have Jehovah’s Witnesses disfellowshipped (excommunicated) for apostasy some who still profess belief in God, the Bible, and Jesus Christ? [...] Teaching dissident or divergent views is not compatible with true Christianity
[...] Was this unity to be achieved and maintained by each one’s independently searching the Scriptures, coming to his own conclusions, and then teaching these? Not at all!
[...] Obviously, a basis for approved fellowship with Jehovah’s Witnesses cannot rest merely on a belief in God, in the Bible, in Jesus Christ, and so forth.
[...] Approved association with Jehovah’s Witnesses requires accepting the entire range of the true teachings of the Bible, including those Scriptural beliefs that are unique to Jehovah’s Witnesses. What do such beliefs include? [...] That there is a “faithful and discreet slave” upon earth today ‘entrusted with all of Jesus’ earthly interests,’ which slave is associated with the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses. (Matthew 24:45-47) That 1914 marked the end of the Gentile Times and the establishment of the Kingdom of God in the heavens, as well as the time for Christ’s foretold presence. (Luke 21:7-24; Revelation 11:15–12:10) That only 144,000 Christians will receive the heavenly reward. (Revelation 14:1, 3)
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Watchtower, October 1st, 1967, Page 591:
Make haste to identify the visible theocratic organization of God that represents his king, Jesus Christ. It is essential for life. Doing so, be complete in accepting its every aspect. We cannot claim to love God, yet deny his Word and channel of communication.
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Watchtower, January 1st, 1966, Page 44:
Moses as his visible representative served as a channel of communication for the nation of Israel.—Ex. 3:10, 16.
Today the anointed spirit-begotten witnesses of Jehovah, comprising the “faithful and discreet slave,” serve as an earthly channel of communication for the great crowd of people who will survive Armageddon. These anointed witnesses along with the “great crowd” of companions form the modern-day Christian organization through which God’s spirit is in operation. (Matt. 24:45-51; Rev. 7:9-17) Never has God had more than one channel of communication at one time. Failure to recognize and associate with his anointed witnesses would certainly indicate that one is not in Jehovah God’s organization and under his spirit. Unfortunately, the Israelites forgot the value of right association and congregated with those outside the gates of Israelite cities, as we read in the Psalms: “And they went mingling with the nations and took up learning their works. And they kept serving their idols, and these came to be a snare to them.”—Ps. 106:35, 36.
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Watchtower, June 1st, 1965, Page 331:
This “slave” class serves as an earthly channel of communication for God’s people, providing them with an understanding of Jehovah’s purposes and giving them direction in the doing of his will. With such direction they are enlightened, strengthened and are united in their worship of the only true and living God. Without this means of communication they would be scattered and lost.
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Watchtower, July 15th, 1961, Pages 431-432:
From a study of God’s Word one appreciates that Jehovah does not dispense his dynamic energy through just any organization that chooses to label itself religious. Neither does God deal with individuals independently of his own wifely organization, the “mother” of all those dedicated to God. (Gal. 4:26) He has always had His channel of communication on earth through which his spirit operates. Remember how Miriam and Aaron tried to bypass this channel and almost lost their lives as a result?Only after Jesus had been baptized by Jehovah’s representative did he receive holy spirit and strength to enable him to do his powerful works. (Num. 12:1-16; Matt. 3:16; Acts 10:38) By and through this holy spirit Jesus aided those associated with him so they could understand the truth, and so they too could receive power to “cure sick people, raise up dead persons, make lepers clean, expel demons.” Thus is emphasized the importance of association with Jehovah’s organization.—Matt. 10:8; Luke 24:45; 1 Cor. 2:10.
As in the past, so also today Jehovah has his visible organization on earth and by means of it an understanding of His will unfolds. This organization is also needed to integrate the efforts of all Christians throughout the many nations so there is no duplication of effort or disunity of action. For these added reasons, then, association with this organization is essential if one hopes to receive Jehovah’s spirit.
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Watchtower, July 15th, 1960, Page 439:
... after 1919. [...] The facts show that during this time and up to the present hour the “slave” class has served as God’s sole collective channel for the flow of Biblical truth to men on earth. Just as the early Christian congregation collectively served as the channel of communication from heaven to earth, so in our time. (Eph. 3:10) Abundant spiritual food and amazing details as to the doing of God’s will have been flowing through this unique channel actually as a miraculous evidence of the operation of holy spirit. The present stature of the New World society of Jehovah’s witnesses, numbering nearly a million ministers in 175 lands, gives eloquent testimony that it is not the product of human ingenuity. Rather, it is the product of holy spirit operating theocratically through a tested channel, influencing the lives of dedicated men and women in all walks of life.—Zech. 4:6.
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Watchtower, October 1st, 1959, Page 583:
Although today the Greater Noah, Jesus Christ, is not visibly present, God’s people are not left without visible direction. The facts show that Christ has a composite “faithful and discreet slave,” the remaining ones of the body of Christ, to represent him. This slave serves as God’s channel of communication. To act consistently with our baptism for life and into the Greater Noah we must submit to and cooperate with that slave and its legal instrument, the Watch Tower Society. It publishes Bibles and Bible-study aids, arranges for various kinds of meetings for Bible instruction and operates a training program designed to aid all sincere Christians to become qualified to preach “this good news of the kingdom.”—Matt. 24:14, 45-47.
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Watchtower, August 1st, 1958, Page 474:
It is only through his channel of communication that Jehovah now is using that an individual obtains accurate knowledge of the truth
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Live Forever Book (1989 Edition), Page 255:
Do not conclude that there are different roads, or ways, that you can follow to gain life in God’s new system. There is only one. There was just the one ark that survived the Flood, not a number of boats. And there will be only one organization—God’s visible organization—that will survive the fast-approaching “great tribulation.” It is simply not true that all religions lead to the same goal. (Matthew 7:21-23; 24:21) You must be part of Jehovah’s organization, doing God’s will, in order to receive his blessing of everlasting life.—Psalm 133:1-3.
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So, Alice claims that the Governing Body is ONLY there to help Christians stay organized, and that it is NOT the sole Channel of Communication between God and mankind. But, as you can clearly see from the above Watchtower Statements, the Watchtower Society teaches exactly the opposite of Alice.
The Watchtower Publications teach (at least from 1950 until the present 2010) this:
1:) Unless you are associated with and obedient to The Channel of Communication (Governing Body, Faithful Slave), you CANNOT understand the Bible correctly.
2:) Unless you are associated with and obedient to The Channel of Communication (Governing Body, Faithful Slave), you CANNOT receive the holy spirit.
3:) Unless you are associated with and obedient to The Channel of Communication (Governing Body, Faithful Slave), you WILL NOT survive Armageddon.
4:) You MUST respond to the direction of The Channel of Communication (Governing Body, Faithful Slave) as you would respond to the VOICE OF GOD.